THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPE. 145 



very graceful sweep, with three regular tines on each horn, 

 and sometimes an extra snag or two beside the brow- 

 antlers. The longest pair I ever got were 37 inches before 

 I peeled off the velvet with which they were covered, and 

 as the tips were quite soft, they would probably have grown 

 another inch. The span was 30 inches, and 4 inches the 

 circumference of beam clear of velvet. They seldom, I 

 think, grow much longer than this, although sometimes 

 slightly thicker. Spotted deer appear to have no regular 

 time for shedding their horns. I have noted in my shooting- 

 journal having killed them in January with horns fully de- 

 veloped, but in velvet. I also find one as having been shot 

 with horns in exactly the same state in April ; and I shot 

 one on 26th February a date, be it observed, about mid- 

 way between the above two carrying long and perfectly 

 clear horns with well-polished white tips. Another killed 

 in August had horns which, from their worn and smooth 

 appearance, were quite ready to be shed. Of two stags I 

 killed, right and left, in the month of March, one had long 

 clear horns with well-worn points, whilst those of the other 

 were in velvet and only half -grown. I could mention many 

 other instances tending to show the strange irregularity with 

 which this deer doffs its antlers. In the months of March 

 and April, however, I found the horns generally best de- 

 veloped. The cheetal stag is termed by the natives a 

 "jhank," as are likewise the males carrying horns of all the 

 deer tribe. 



The little four-horned antelope (Tetraceros quadricornis), 

 or " chousinghia " as it is called, is met with in much the 

 same sort of country, but rather sparsely, and usually singly 

 or in pairs. It is rather lighter in colour than the hog-deer, 

 and about the same size, but it seldom or never frequents 

 marshy ground. It is frequently found among bush jungle 

 or near the outskirts of forests. The front horns seldom 

 grow longer than an inch, and are more often mere nobs. 

 The hinder ones are about 3 or 4 inches long, and some- 



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